Dwayne Allen will have season-ending hip surgery

Posted by Josh Alper on September 18, 2013, 12:25 PM EST

Getty Images

The Colts are down a tight end for the rest of the year.

Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star reports that Colts coach Chuck Pagano informed the media on Wednesday that Dwayne Allen needs to have season-ending surgery on his hip. Allen hurt his hip in the season opener against the Raiders and didn’t play in last Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.

Pagano had described Allen as day-to-day earlier this week, which either means that Allen got a negative update about the severity of the injury or that Pagano was using the term in a more general sense to highlight the fragility of human life. Either way, the result is still that the Colts will have to ask more from tight end Coby Fleener over the rest of the season.

Allen had one catch for 20 yards and a touchdown in the opener after racking up 45 receptions as a rookie. Dominique Jones could also see more time at tight end for the Colts, who may also opt for more three receiver formations with one of their top two tight ends on the shelf.

Allen joins guard Donald Thomas and running back Vick Ballard as significant Colts offensive pieces already lost for the year because of injuries.

Ugh this really hurts, Allen was probably our third best offensive player after Luck and Reggie. I’m really questioning if the Colts can make the playoffs this year with these injuries and just seeing how badly they’ve looked in the first 2 games.

Sorry for the Colts. They clearly drafted this guy and Fleener to give Luck some comfort (Luck thrived at Stanford with Fleener without any dynamite receivers). Fleener has an opportunity here to refine his game and truly step up.

How badly they’ve looked? They won, and they had the ball deep in Dolphins territory at the end of the game on Sunday. Allen was a versatile player, but the Colts have a lot more viable options than they had last year….DHB, Bradshaw, Whalen. If they can get through the next 3 or 4 games around .500, they will be alright.